The Bet
by Jazz Line
Summary: The most popular pupil, Alfred F. Jones, decides to make a bet with the student council's president, Arthur Kirkland. If Arthur can give up his hobby for one whole semester, he will not expose Arthur's secret. AU Human!Countries
1. Declaration of Bet

**Title: **The Bet  
><strong>Genre: <strong>Romance / Drama  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>USUK, Implied PruCan, GerIta and others  
><strong>Warning: <strong>AU!, OOC!, Gakuen! Fic, Human!Countries, Smut (Later chapters)  
><strong>Rated M for smut in later chapters.<strong>  
><strong>Synopsis: <strong>The most popular pupil, Alfred F. Jones, decides to make a bet with the student council's president, Arthur Kirkland. If Arthur can give up his hobby for one whole semester, he will not expose Arthur's secret.

**Disclaimer: **Axis Power: Hetalia belongs to the great Himaruya Hidekaz-sensei.

**A/N: **While I was reading an admittedly confusing USUK doujinshi, the idea for such a story popped up in my mind. I told an America roleplayer that I mainly roleplay with and we decided to roleplay the story idea out. **This fanfiction was based on our roleplay.**Any coincidence with other fanfictions in this story are unintentional and I hope we do not offend anyone with this fanfiction. I shall stop my ramblings here, please enjoy reading the story!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: <strong>Declaration of Bet

_Promise only what you can deliver. Then deliver more than you promise. ~Unknown_

Arthur looked around the quiet park as the sun began to set, spotting a tall blond standing next to the railings. He briefly wondered to himself whether it was the sender of the letter that requested him to meet the person. In the beginning, he had thought that it was a mere prank orchestrated by a random pupil in the school but then, the letters had continued to arrive, claiming that he would expose Arthur's secret if he did not agree to meet the other. Deciding to take the risk, he walked up to the other male.

Alfred, a tall blond blue eyed boy of around 16 or 17, looked up from his phone as he heard someone approaching. He smirked slightly as he saw who it was.

"Hey," he stated simply, turning around to face the newcomer.

"I assume you're... 'Alfred the HERO!' ?" Arthur inquired, scowling as he thought of the pen name that was always hastily scrawled in red ink at the end of the letters. He detested the colour red, preferring the colour of sky blue for some unexplained reason.

He walked towards the railings and looked at the landscape before him as he asked the other, "...what do you bloody want in order for you to not expose the secret, git?"

"You have to swear to give it up for the entire semester." Alfred challenged, jabbing Arthur with the sharp end of a pencil. His smirked widened into almost cruel grin. "Or I'll tell the _whole_ school."

Arthur widened his eyes in surprise. H-him_ giving up_ his hobby? It was inhuman to try to make him give up it for a semester, let alone a week. He shuddered, remembering the time that he had gone into withdrawal after being deprived from it for two days. However, if the secret was exposed... he let his thoughts trail off, unwilling to think about the consequences of it.

"F-fine. What will you do if I give it up for one entire semester though? You can't expect me to be satisfied with only my secret on the line," he folded his arms and frowned.

Alfred's hand twitched slightly as if he was forcing it to stay still.

"Its payback time, Arthur." It made the American's heart sore that Arthur could forget him so easily, so easily as if nothing had happened.

"Are you in or not?" He asked, though it resembled more like a growl.

Arthur was confused to say the least. 'Payback...?' He thought to himself, lifting an eyebrow in curiosity. Nevertheless, he nodded silently to the other male, randomly fishing out his emerald-green phone from his pocket as he rapidly started to take pictures of the surroundings.

"How do you know I won't go back on my word though?" Arthur smirked at the blond, fingering the camera button before clicking on it, taking a picture of the other.

"H-hey, what was that for?" Alfred put up an arm to cover his face from the camera. He glared at Arthur, though it seemed to be a little half-heartedly.

"I know you won't..." he turned away folding his arms across his chest.

Arthur smiled, looking at the picture. It had turned out looking pretty alright, even though the male was frowning in the picture. He directed the camera of his phone at himself before taking a picture, a grin plastered on his face.

"Alright then... our bet will commence tomorrow?" He turned to the other, satisfied with his photo as he briefly glanced at it before shoving his phone back into his pocket. Unknown to Alfred, a small green stone was hung on the shorter blond's phone like a phone charm.

"Fine." Alfred said, turning around to face the other again. 'You're so gonna lose...' his thoughts trailed off as he leaned on the railing. Looking out into the sunset, he let out a long sigh, his breath could be seen hovering in the cold air. The American shook his head, sadly.

Arthur silently left, starting to trudge in the direction of his abode. If he was to stop the hobby of his, he would have to hide and lock everything up to prepare for the next day. After all, he was sure that he would go into withdrawal when he became deprived of it.

When Arthur reached home, he shrugged off his coat and started to shove single piece of merchandise he had bought into an empty cupboard. He even removed the key chain that hung from his house keys before taking down the posters and calenders that were hung on the walls of his room and rolling them up, placing them inside the cupboard. He replaced the stack of books that were sorted according to volumes with different kinds of novels.

Finally when he was finished, the once empty cupboard was crammed full of stuff. Arthur Kirkland would rather not admit to anyone, but he was a closet otaku. He loved to collect anime, manga, light novels, doujinshi, games and other merchandise such as figurines, soft toys and calenders but he refused to tell anyone else in the school except for the few people who already knew his secret. After all, he was notorious as the student council president who frequently confiscated manga from students whenever he caught them reading it in school, claiming that it wasn't 'proper' literature. How the students would respond if they knew his secret was something that he did not want to think about.

He collapsed onto his bed, shutting his eyes as he began to drift to a dreamless sleep, which frankly, was welcomed by him. He would need a lot of rest if he was planning to stop reading manga and light novels, watching anime or play his collection of galge games for one whole semester.

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><p><strong>Yup~ Arthur is secretly an otaku. How many of you guessed that in the beginning or when he was clearing his room? The green stone mentioned in the above passage will be something crucial to the story though the story behind it will be revealed in a side story. I apologise for the fact that this multi-chaptered fanfiction might be rather short as I am still unused to writing multi-chapters, having experienced author's block at the beginning of a story whenever I attempted to write one... I also apologise for any horrible grammar mistakes as this fanfiction wasn't beta-ed before I uploaded it...Feel free to point them out, I won't bite. However, please do not tell me that I spelled 'apologise' or 'colour' wrong as I am using <em>British English<em> spelling and not American English...**

**Terminology:  
>Otaku - <strong>In modern Japanese slang, the term _otaku_ is most often equivalent to 'geek'. However, it can relate to a fan of any particulate theme, topic, hobby or any form of entertainment.  
><strong>Galge <strong>- A gal game, often shortened to 'galge', is a type of Japanese video game centered on interactions with attractive anime-styled girls.  
><strong>Light Novel – <strong>A light novel is a style of Japanese novel, called _ranobe_ or _rainobe _for short. They are typically not more than 40,000–50,000 words long and rarely exceed 200 pages long, with illustrations. It is normally published in a bunkobon (A6) size and it is a paperback book, allowing it to be affordable and portable.  
><strong>Doujinshi<strong> – They are essentially manga created by _fans _for fans. Typical doujinshi features characters from popular manga, anime, video games and the like.

**Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated! I also welcome any suggestions given by the readers.**


	2. The Next Day

**Title: **The Bet  
><strong>Genre: <strong>Romance / Drama  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>USUK, Implied PruCan, GerIta and others  
><strong>Warning: <strong>AU!, OOC!, Gakuen! Fic, Human!Countries, Smut (Later chapters)  
><strong>Synopsis: <strong>The most popular pupil, Alfred F. Jones, decides to make a bet with the student council's president, Arthur Kirkland. If Arthur can give up his hobby for one whole semester, he will not expose Arthur's secret.

**Disclaimer: **Axis Power: Hetalia belongs to the great Himaruya Hidekaz-sensei.

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews! :3. Please enjoy chapter two.

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><p>Chapter 2: The Next Day<p>

_The existence of forgetting has never been proved: We only know that some things don't come to mind when we want them. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche_

It was during one of their history lessons. Arthur's finger twitched as his fingers tapped the desk impatiently. He hadn't touched a single of the stuff ever since he made the bet and he was about to go insane from being deprived of it, even though only a night had passed. He regretted having made the bet with Alfred. Glancing around the classroom, he scowled when he saw familiar locks of blond hair. He started to glare at the male sitting in front of him.

Alfred turned in his seat to look at Arthur while he thought the teacher was otherwise busy, "How're you holdin' up?" he smirked, with a menacing laugh.

Arthur scowled, trying to hide his twitching fingers but failed to do so as he retorted back, "I'm still fine... why?"

"It's n-not like I-I c-can't l-live w-without them..." he stammered as his fingers twitched violently.

Alfred snorted loudly earning him smack in the head from a text book, "Back to work, Mr. Jones. Don't bother Arthur." the teacher snapped gruffly.

"Ow! I wasn't-" he started, however the teacher warned him again.

"Get on with your work."

Alfred muttered something that rhymed with 'which'. However, he was lucky that the teacher did not happen to hear him as she moved off through the rows of students. Arthur smirked, quietly chuckling as he tried to pick up a pen to continue his work. Unfortunately, the twitching of his fingers made it rather hard to do so. After all, he used to read manga even as he was doing his work but because of the bet, he could not do anything related to it. His smirk turned into a frown as he thought about the DVD that Kiku had lent him. He had been waiting for months to get it since it was released and yet... he let his thoughts trail off as he turned to the window beside him, glaring at the football field located inconveniently outside.

"Who placed the football field just outside of our classroom, anyway? It's such a distraction when students are trying to study..." he grumbled quietly to himself.

"Why? Its mostly the _girls _who get distracted out there," Alfred remarked in a low voice to Arthur, "what with football practise and all."

Arthur scowled, pushing the other away as a blush overtook his face, understanding what the other had implied.

"I-I meant t-that i-it's noisy w-when t-they're having football p-practise, y-you d-dolt!" Arthur hissed, unaware that his voice was getting louder until a tap on his shoulder startled him.

"Do you have something to share with the class, Arthur? While I can believe why Mr. Jones would disturb you, I do not understand why you of everyone in this class would not pay attention," the teacher folded her arms sternly and asked.

"N-no...I'm sorry, Miss..." Arthur apologised, kicking Alfred's chair warningly when he noticed the other chuckling with mirth. Alfred's chair wobbled slightly, startling him from his giggles, he shot a glare back at Arthur. There was more then anger behind his eyes, there also pain and hurt. He masked it as best he could by focusing his attention on his work. Arthur was startled. He blinked blankly, wondering if he had mistaken the hurt in Alfred's eyes when he glared at Arthur.

He was pretty sure that he did not know Alfred... but why did the other feel rather familiar to him? Why did Alfred seem like he knew him? He mused to himself, mindlessly doodling over his paper as time flew by. When he looked down to see the piece of paper, he was surprised to find small drawings on the paper that was meant for him to take down notes about the lesson.

Alfred shook his head and tried to focus on the lesson. Their teacher was talking about history, flipping boring...Alfred thought, annoyed. He wished class would be over soon.  
>He stuff his hand into pocket and pulled a small green stone, he smiled at it. Then shot another glance at Arthur.<p>

'How could he? Damn him...' Alfred gripped the rock so hard his knuckles went white and his fist shook with rage, he felt like chucking the rock at something, preferably Arthur's head.

Arthur was surprised to say the least when the doodles were all of Alfred. He scowled, folding the piece of paper and placed it under his desk before taking out another piece of paper, fiddling with his phone charm, which consisted of an emerald-coloured green stone, at the same time. He couldn't remember about how he had gotten the stone but he instinctively felt that it was an important object to him.

Alfred sighed and stuff the stone back into his pocket, he couldn't stand to look at it. What was even more unbearable was the person sitting behind him, the person whom he had shared most of his life with and now to be shunted aside like an old toy, Alfred felt hurt.

Arthur smiled bitterly, remembering what had happened before he had came back to this country, feeling like it was important for him to come back. He had woken up in a hospital bed one day. When his mother told him about moving back to the hometown that he grew up in and he looked confused, she refused to tell him anything else, except for the fact that he was the one who apparently insisted on moving back. Arthur knew that his family members were hiding something from him but he could not figure out what they were trying to hide from him.

Alfred was beginning to think that this class would never end when suddenly the bell went off, signally the end of the school day. The blue eyed blond jumped up at once, packing his text book and note book away into his backpack. Glancing sideways at Arthur, he swung the bag over his shoulder and past the other's desk, either accidental or on purpose, he sent one of Arthur's pencils clattering to the floor with his bag. Arthur scowled but merely said nothing as he picked the pencil up, accidentally knocking down the piece of paper on his table in the process. He did not know why he had sketched a smiling Alfred again on the piece of paper when the reason why he had placed aside the previous piece of paper was because he had drawn a picture of the other blond by accident when he was supposed to take down notes.

Alfred turned around when he heard the sound of paper shuffling and deciding he couldn't be so heartless as not help out his ex best friend, when he stopped dead, staring at his face on a sheet of paper.

"What the hell is that?" Alfred demanded.

"I-It's n-nothing, you b-bloody g-git!" Arthur stammered and snatched the piece of paper back, blushing slightly as he covered the paper from Alfred's sight. He was embarrassed at being caught by the other.

"Seriously, if you said you don't remember me then why the hell are you drawing pictures of my face?" Alfred said loudly. The rest of the students had left on their way home or to their co-curriculum activities by then and they were alone in the classroom.

"I-It was unintentional!" Arthur spluttered, scowling as walked backwards, feeling cornered by the other. He gripped the paper behind him tightly just as his back hit the wall. Blushing furiously, he tried to think of a method to escape from the classroom and in turn, escape from Alfred.

Alfred wasn't sure why he was so angry, it was just a stupid drawing, wasn't it? He didn't feel anger towards anything, it was just there, bubbling up inside him. Then he meet with forest green eyes, filled with alarm. Alfred took a deep breath and turned away, "I-I'm sorry.." he muttered.

He made a mad dash for the door when something went flying from his pocket, it bounced of the floor, sliding right in front of Arthur in plain sight. A small green object. Alfred spun around at the noise, gazing desperately around the room for his lost treasure, cursing himself for his bad eye sight. Arthur stared, bewildered. The stone looked similar to his own, almost like it was the second half of his own. He picked it up, holding it out to Alfred.

"I-is this yours?" He mumbled, a frown plastered on his face as he did so. Suddenly, his head started to ache and he clutched at it, whimpering in pain. He could hear two distorted mumbling in the back of his mind but he couldn't decipher their words.

"Hey, you okay?" Alfred looked concernedly at the other male when he noticed the shorter blond in pain. Reaching out a hand to place on Arthur's own hand as he held the stone firmly in his grip.

"Y-yeah..." Arthur blushed, unconsciously becoming nervous at Alfred's touch on Arthur's hand. What was wrong with him...? He thought to himself irritatedly as he began to calm down, stepping away from the other.

Alfred gripped the stone tightly as if he couldn't let go. He tilted his head, he could've sworn Arthur's cheeks were red, but it must be his imagination. Alfred tossed the stone into the air and caught it, "Thanks, dude. I dunno what I would do if I lost this."

"Y-yeah...E-excuse me, I-I h-have to get back to my w-work..." Arthur mumbled, purposely looking away from Alfred. He walked to his seat to pick up a stack of files from underneath his table before walking away in the direction of the student council room, unaware that he had accidentally dropped the folded piece of paper containing doodles of Alfred that he had accidentally drawn. Alfred noticed the piece of paper and bent to pick it up in curiosity, unfolding it after Arthur left the room. The sight that he saw on the piece of paper caused him to become flustered as he gripped it tightly in his hand.

"That idiot..."

When Arthur reached the student council room, he opened the door. Upon finding that only his treasurer was in the student council room, Arthur gritted his teeth and growled out, "Gilbert, do you know where the bloody frog went?"

The albino looked up from folding paper planes with scrap paper and let out his trademark boisterous laugh.

"Kesesese! Ja, the awesome me knows it of course! Francis said that he couldn't deny the 'pull' of love and walked away. He's awesome. Not as awesome as me though. No one's as awesome as me. ...Except Gilbird and maybe Birdie...Now the awesome me has to go and meet Birdie, don't miss my awesomeness too much! ...I finished my work and left it on your desk."

Arthur almost asked who 'Birdie' was before he remembered. It was Matthew Williams, the student council's secretary.

"...At least Gilbert had the decency to finish his work and inform me before leaving..." He grumbled to himself as he sat down on his chair to begin on the massive stack of paperwork.

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><p><strong>...And another clue is revealed~ I wonder what Arthur actually drew on the doodles... xD.<strong>

Ja –

'Yes' in German.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ((Unfortunately, this chapter isn't exactly BETA-ed either...))  
><strong>

Constructive criticism and reviews are appreciated!

Thanks for read this chapter.

Usagi-Tama out.


	3. Kindness of the Other

**Title: **The Bet  
><strong>Genre: <strong>Romance / Drama  
><strong>Pairing: <strong>USUK, Implied PruCan, GerIta and others  
><strong>Warning: <strong>AU!, OOC!, Gakuen! Fic, Human!Countries, Smut (Later chapters)  
><strong>Rat<strong>**ing: **M  
><strong>Synopsis: <strong>The most popular pupil, Alfred F. Jones, decides to make a bet with the student council's president, Arthur Kirkland. If Arthur can give up his hobby for one whole semester, he will not expose Arthur's secret.

**Disclaimer: **Axis Power: Hetalia belongs to the great Himaruya Hidekaz-sensei.

**A/N: **There are more interactions between Iggy and Alfred in this chapter... uh, so yeah. Enjoy! As always, this chapter is not beta-ed :I . 

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>: Kindness of the Other

_"__One thing I've learned: Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change. Kindness that catch us by surprise brings out the best in our natures." ~ Bob Kerrey_

A week had uneventfully passed since the bet started, though Arthur's withdrawal had worsened even as the weather got colder. His hands kept on shaking no matter how much he tried to stop it, too unused to not touching a single manga. One night however, while he was on his way back home from his part-time job at a bookstore, he saw a familiar blond smiling happily at two cats as he talked to them. Quietly, he approached the other and mumbled, "...may I take a seat here?"

Alfred looked up as he was feeding the larger of the two cats. He nodded, "sure."

Then, the smaller cat meowed loudly, "Okay, okay. Charlie quit complaining, you'll get your fair share."

Alfred reached out a hand with a treat placed on it and the cat quickly gobbled up the treat. When both animals full, they set about cleaning themselves. They looked to be the best of friends. Alfred leaned back and smiled, at the two, who were now tumbling around in a play fight.

"Hmm... didn't think you were much of a cat person," Arthur murmured, sneaking a glance at the other male as he breathed out, rubbing his bare hands together. He silently cursed the fact that he had forgotten to wear gloves before he left for work. The temperature during the night had dropped several degrees compared to the temperature during the day, causing Arthur to feel like his hands were quickly becoming numb.

"Huh, I love cats but my mom doesn't..." Alfred sighed, looking sideways at Arthur. "You cold? Here, you can have my gloves," Alfred offered out a pair of red mittens.

"I-It's alright..." Arthur mumbled, slightly blushing as he rejected the offer, blowing more warm air into his hands as he rubbed them. The blond glanced at the two cats who were currently playing with each other.

"I s-see... What did you name them?"

"That one is Charlie." Alfred pointed to smaller cat, who was at this moment pinned under the others strength.

"And the other one's Spark. I found them about a week ago, almost dead to the world. So I stuck them a few treats from the pet shop where I work," he finished. The two cats were now rolling around on the ground, Alfred laughed as the larger cat still managed to pin the other one. Arthur rose an eyebrow but nonetheless did not make a comment as he stared out at the surroundings, thinking to himself. '...Maybe t-that git isn't so bad after all...'

Then, he glanced at his watch, surprised to find that it was almost midnight. He blushed and hesitantly asked the other, "w-what do you think should be the theme for the annual school Christmas party this year? N-not that I need help or anything... I j-just thought that it might be h-helpful to hear the s-students' opinions about the party..."

Alfred shrugged, stuffing his hands deep in his pockets as he looked to the sky, "a dance maybe?"

"Hey its snowing!"

The blonds bright blue eyes lit up as the snowflakes fell all around them. He raised a hand, the snow melted away in his hand.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Alfred was showing a part of himself he hadn't touched for years, the only memory of this side was of his childhood.

"Yeah..." Arthur mumbled, his thoughts were somewhere else.

"...Y-your eyes are more pretty though... they remind me of the lovely blue that the skies possess during a fine day..." He mused to himself, unaware that he had spoken that aloud. Why did that line feel so familiar...? He frowned, puzzled by his thoughts.

"What did you say?" Alfred asked, his eyes went in surprise wide as a familiar spark shot between them. What was this? His heart felt warm, like a warm breeze through a window.

"...Ah? I s-said that your eyes are m-more pretty...they remind me-" Arthur trailed off, blushing heavily as he realized that he had said it out loud.

"N-never mind! I s-said nothing!" He stammered, looking down at the floor in embarrassment as he tried to hide his blushing scarlet red cheeks from Alfred's view.

"Dude, you okay? You're face in all red." Alfred stated concernedly, putting a hand on Arthur's shoulder. Something about what Arthur had said just then triggered a chain of memories, clouds...doves...feathers...promise.

"Y-yeah..." Arthur mumbled, flinching from the touch slightly. He hated being physically touched, for some reason that he couldn't remember.

"I-I s-should g-get b-back h-home...b-bye!" He stammered, his blush starting to fade slightly although it was still there. He was about to stand up and walk away when he was stopped by a grip on his wrist. He stopped, turning to look back at the other blond.

"Arthur, here." Alfred placed something in the palm of Arthur's hand, a small green something.

"Do you remember me now?"

He stood up, looking right into the others face, "I once compared that to your eyes."

"I-I'm s-sorry..." Arthur mumbled, clutching his head and shutting his eyes as his head started to hurt. It felt like he was being stabbed in the brain by pins. The distorted mumblings belonging to two people were back again, though it was more clear.

"...It h-hurts...A-Al..." He whimpered in pain, no longer aware of what he was even doing.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" Alfred's eyes went wide in alarm, he held Arthur's shoulders to keep him steady. He shouted in panic, "talk to me!"

"...S-sorry Al...I'm s-sorry..." Arthur murmured before he fell unconscious.

Dark. It was so dark. He detested the dark. It brought such bad memories... but what memories? He had about an estimated gap of two weeks' worth of memories and perhaps, it could have even been more.

Alfred was standing in his kitchen, making tea for Arthur. He glanced up from the kettle, the Brit was still asleep upstairs in his room. Alfred thanked his lucky stars that his mother was gone for the week on a business trip. Whereas, his father was...well, not around...for good. The boy sighed, having finished making the tea before taking it upstairs. Opening the door to his bedroom, he set the cup on the mahogany table beside his bed. Arthur was still asleep, so the other blond lounged back against his bean bag chair, pulling a game boy out from his pocket and started to play a game, waiting for the other to awaken.

A few hours later, Arthur started to wake, feeling extremely groggy as he did so. He groaned, turning over before he realised that he was not in his own room. The bed felt more comfortable than his own, he thought to himself sleepily as he opened his eyes, startled to see Alfred absorbed in playing a game on a game boy.

"...T-thanks..." he mumbled, blushing slightly as he started to recall what had happened before he fell unconscious.

Alfred looked up, turning his game off, "Hey, no problem. Anything for a fri-" he stopped, looking away and standing up.

"How're you feeling?" he asked, now standing over the bed.

"I'm feeling better now..." Arthur mumbled. It was true, the pounding headache had lessened into a dull pain he could easily ignore if he did not concentrate on the pain. He tried to get up from the bed, only to trip on the blankets and fall down.

"Whoa, Arthur, you need to take it easy." Alfred reached out an arm to stop the other from falling, trying to get him back on the bed. Arthur blushed at their close proximity, subconsciously flinching away from the touch as he thanked the other before asking quietly.

"C-can I use your phone? I forgot to bring mine and I need to c-call my b-brother..."

"Sure thing." Alfred turned and paused for a minute, "Where did I- aha! There it is!"

He stanched up the cordless phone, he spun around and handed it to Arthur.

"Here, you can stay if you don't feel well enough," he offered kindly with a slight smile.

"T-thanks for the offer b-but I d-don't think Scott will be pleased..." Arthur mumbled as he dialed the number, wincing when the phone got through and a loud voice asked him where he was.

"I-I'm at a friend's house, B-brother... Yeah... Alright then... G-goodbye..." Arthur mumbled into the phone before hanging up, passing the cordless phone back to Alfred as he muttered a 'thanks'.

"Do you need a ride back home? I can lend you some money for the bus." Alfred suggested, taking the phone back and sitting down on the bed next to Arthur. Arthur rejected the other blond's offer as he attempted to get up from the bed again.

"I-It's alright... I'll be walking home."

"You sure?" Alfred touched the others shoulder gently, "I wouldn't want you fainting out there in cold again. Do you want me to come with you?"

He really was concerned for Arthur's safety, he wished he knew what happened to their friendship.

"I-It's alright..." Arthur muttered, rather unconvincingly. He detested the dark, it somehow left a bad taste in his mouth whenever he thought about it, although he could not remember the reason he would hate the darkness. He just preferred the daytime when the sky was a clear blue.

"Come on, Arthur. You fainted for almost three hours, you need time to get your strength back." Alfred said, placing a soft hand on Arthur's own hand, "I'm not letting you take that risk."

Arthur blushed at the contact but silently nodded, mumbling an incoherent 'thank you' in reply as he did so.

"No problem, dude." Alfred said, ruffling Arthur's hair with affection, smiling slightly. Hoping somehow to restore Arthur's memories of him, he held the others hand in his. Arthur hesitantly interlocked their fingers in response. He did not know why but it felt like Alfred's hand fit so perfectly with his and holding the taller blond's hand felt so nostalgic. It brought him comfort for an unexplainable reason.

Alfred relaxed, letting out a long sigh as he leaned on Arthur's shoulder.

"I missed you..." he said softly, not realizing he had said it out loud. Arthur blushed, blinking confusedly. 'Why would he miss me...?' He thought to himself before stating to the other.

"...I-I need t-to get home soon... S-scott said that he would lock the door in an hour's time."

"Alright, let's go then..." 

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><p>While they were on their way home, Arthur accidentally tripped over a stone and lost his balance, pulling Alfred down with him in an attempt to regain his balance. He found himself staring into sky blue eyes with a dazed expression on his face as he fell to the ground.<p>

"Umf..!" Alfred winced as his knee banged against the hard ground.

"Ow..are you...okay?"

Alfred took in a breath as he gazed into emerald green eyes. Just like the old days...

"Y-yeah.." Arthur mumbled. He attempted to get up but found himself blushing tomato red when he accidentally locked lips with the taller blond instead. Alfred's eyes went wide with surprise and then shock when he found himself responding. ...What the hell was he doing? However, it felt...good. The rational part of his mind tried to argue with him but it failed when Alfred closed his sky blue eyes. Arthur snapped out of his daze when he felt Alfred responding back and he ignored the small part of his mind that urged him to continue the kiss. He attempted to push away the other blond, the blush still evident on his face.

"W-what were you doing..g-git?" He mumbled, looking at the ground in an attempt to hide his blush. Alfred stumbled back from the other, a bright blush on his cheeks could be seen too.

"I-I dunno.." he muttered, holding a hand over his mouth, he could still feel the pressure of Arthur's lips against his..a part of him missed the touch. He tried to look anywhere but Arthur's face.

"S-sorry..."

"I-It's o-okay..." Arthur muttered quietly, looking away as he continued trudging in the direction of his home. Hopefully, Scott had not yet locked the doors... he mused to himself, trying not to look back at Alfred.

When they had finally reached Arthur's home, Arthur mumbled a soft 'thank you' and quickly went into the house, leaving Alfred on the sidewalk. Arthur was still blushing even as his older brother, Scott, walked into the hallway while scowling.

"...Are you blushing?" Scott smirked, planning to tease his younger brother as all thoughts of reprimanding the blond flew out from his mind.

"I-I'm not!" Arthur huffed, walking hastily up the staircase and closing his bedroom door shut as he ignored the chuckles that escaped from his older brother. 

* * *

><p><strong>...Er, yup. As you can see, Scotland is more like a brother who likes to tease Iggy endlessly... This was more based on a RP between an awesome Scotland RPer and me while roleplaying an interaction between child!Iggy and Adult!Scotland ... Many thanks to the roleplayer! On another note...the Alfred roleplayer and I have decided to do only about 10-12 chapters, including the epilogue because Iggy and Al are already in the midst of the semester and they will go for winter break soon... as this is set in Japan. Please feel free to give suggestions though owo.<strong>

**Many a thanks for reading this chapter!**

**As always, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated. ;D .**

**Usagi-Tama out.**


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